For a year or more I've tried to talk to Ava about money, earning, etc. Sometimes she seems to get it, sometimes she doesn't. Today we went full cycle.
Early in the day she wanted some toy. As I usually do I ask her whether or not she has any money. She didn't but was sure she could get some at the Piggy Bank. That's what Terp calls the real bank.
I assured her that we didn't have any money there but told her that she could do some work to earn some money. I've made it this far with her in the past. Normally I assign her some task, she starts it and abandons it two minutes later. Today I told her that if she cleaned her toy room to the point that I didn't see any toys on the ground I'd pay her.
As she started to clean I walked away fairly certainly that she'd be playing again in a matter of minutes. When I checked back in about 15 minutes she was still cleaning!
I gave her some guidance on how cleaning isn't the same as stuffing but generally applauded her efforts and reaffirmed that there was loot at the end of the work. I also commiserated with her that work is hard.
Finally she peeked her head into my office and said "I'm done." She walked me into the toy room and showed me the result. It wasn't perfect but it was clear that she had spent a lot of time cleaning. I agree to give her some money.
And I agreed to take her to the store to get a toy. We went as a family to Target.
She carried her $10 in her backpack. I worked with her a bit on the value of $10... i.e. that it can't buy anything. But in the end I didn't want to confuse her. I wanted her to understand that you work, you get money and then you can spend money. We'll work on saving and smart decisions later.
She picked out a toy and we carried it to checkout. We had Ava give her money to the cashier. She was shy about it but she did it! Big steps for an Ava!
I enjoyed the lesson of the day. Probably more than she did!
Later she showed me that she had really absorbed the lesson. She was asking me something and I said "well, we don't have any money to buy that" and she said "well, you need to stop doing little chores and you need to do big chores so you make lots of money."
Right on Aves... I totally need to get some big chores to do!
Three Months to Ironman Florida 2007 Plan